Smashing Pumpkins and Jane’s Addiction Kicked Off Their American Tour in Dallas On Sunday

Jane’s Addiction almost got to tour recently with its four original members, but as singer Perry Farrell told us last week, the group’s famed lead guitarist Dave Navarro is still dealing with the lingering effects of long COVID.

On Sunday night at American Airlines Center, Navarro’s role was filled by Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen. The Los Angeles-based Jane’s Addiction came out on fire. Farrell sauntered onto the stage with a mic in one hand and a bottle of red wine in the other and ripped through classics such as “Been Caught Stealing,” “Mountain Song” and “Ted, Just Admit It …”

Perry is a master of vocal effects, and his trademark whine was trippy as ever. Although age has taken a few notes off his high range, his energy more than made up for it. And because it wouldn’t be a Jane’s show without some shock value, three strippers surrounded the singer, including Farrell’s wife Etty Lau Farrell.

“I love to come out here night after night shaking my balls,” Perry said, with a set of maracas in front of his crotch to accentuate the point.

After a few familiar upbeat songs and endless flashing lights, the band broke into the haunting ballad “Jane Says,” which turned into a mass singalong. Navarro’s presence was missed, but Van Leeuwen held his own.

It would’ve been easy to forget that Jane’s Addiction was not the headliner. But then came Smashing Pumpkins, slowly entering a dark stage. Frontman Billy Corgan come out with face paint and a dark cloak as the rock band opened with new song “Empires,” followed by the more familiar “Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” then sliding right into their hit “Today. ”

The majority of the crowd seemed to be there for the Pumpkins. And all of the original members are on this tour, other than bassist D’arcy Wretzky.

The group busted out “We Only Come Out at Night,” which they hadn’t played since 2008. The group’s droning guitars and Corgan’s scratchy vocals kept the sold-out crowd on their feet the entire set.

The Pumpkins have a new 33-song rock opera that is described as a sequel to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina/The Machines of God. The band is releasing the songs one at a time on Corgan’s podcast and played two songs from that unreleased LP on Sunday.

The Pumpkins have a much larger catalog than Jane’s Addiction, and it seemed like they wanted to give equal time to almost all their albums. For some reason, they didn’t play any songs off their debut album Gish. They focused on their usual favorites, including “1979,” “Cherub Rock” and “Disarm,” playing the
22-song set straight through and without an encore.

Corgan alternated between playing guitar while singing and strolling back and forth sans guitar. He kept a creepy presence, almost a visual representation of the music. Songs would come in between peaks and valleys of screams and psychedelic solos. The most mellow moment of the night came when Corgan and guitarist James Iha did an acoustic duo version of “Tonight, Tonight.”

One of the more surprising tunes of the night was a haunting version of Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime.” Corgan gave the song an even more dismal feel in the most gorgeous, angsty way.

The group was on point, and it’s poised to dominate the rest of the tour. Though The Smashing Pumpkins hadn’t been on the road since 2017, the band showed no signs of rust.